Pumpkin patch casualty of B.C. teachers' job action

Student field trips to pumpkin patches in the Lower Mainland are being cancelled due to ongoing job action by B.C. teachers.

B.C. teachers arestopping their non-teaching duties, such as collecting money for field trips or sending home permission slips, as they negotiate a new contract with the province.

Rondriso Farms in Surrey, B.C., would normally be gearing up for a busy month of visitors to their pumpkin patch. But owner Ron Tamis has seen five school groups, totalling more than 150 students, cancel their bookings.

"Every penny counts. I mean this is farming and especially in a year like this. We've been hit so hard with the weather in multiple areas that everything counts," said Tamis.

For $7a child, the Tamises take visiting students on hay rides, help them pick a pumpkin and make crafts.

"It's been really heartbreaking for a lot of the teachers and it will be heartbreaking for the kids that are used to coming every single year," said Pam Tamis.

Glen Hansman, vice-president of the B.C. Teachers Federation, says teachers can still go on field trips if school administrators take care of the paperwork.

"The rubin some school districts is that administration is refusing to collect money or handle the paperwork and thats part of what were not doing during our job action."

The Surrey school district says its too much pressure to have administrators take over teachers paperwork.

The five-year contract between the BCTF and B.C. Public School Employers' Association expired on June 30.